Gaza Conflict Escalates Amidst International Controversy

At least 69 people were killed by Israeli fire across Gaza, with 15 people, mostly women and children, killed in an air strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, and 38 others killed while queueing for aid. The Israeli military said it targeted a "key" Hamas operative and accused Hamas of using human shields, while Hamas denied this. The strikes come as pressure mounts on Israel and Hamas to agree to a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal, with US President Donald Trump saying Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions, but obstacles remain. Gaza's health ministry reported 118 people were killed in 24 hours, with at least 57,130 killed since the conflict began.

Retired British Col. Richard Kemp said Israel is doing everything it can to avoid civilian casualties in the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza. Kemp, who recently visited Israel and Gaza, commended the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for conducting the war "very effectively" and minimizing civilian deaths despite Hamas embedding itself among civilians and in tunnels. He attributed civilian deaths to Hamas' tactics, stating that the group's primary objective is to provoke Israel into killing civilians, thereby vilifying and isolating Israel. Kemp praised the IDF for maximizing the destruction of Hamas while minimizing civilian casualties. He also highlighted the work of the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has distributed aid to civilians in Gaza, with some reporting it was the first time they received free aid since the war began. Kemp emphasized the need for other nations and humanitarian organizations to support the GHF.

An investigation by the Associated Press has claimed that Israeli-backed American contractors guarding aid centers in Gaza used live ammunition and stun grenades on starving Palestinians, with footage showing gunfire and stun grenades being fired at aid sites. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which hired the contractors, has strongly denied the allegations, describing them as "categorically false". The GHF stated that it has investigated the claims and found them to be untrue, and that gunfire heard in videos was from the Israeli military outside the aid distribution site. The incident has sparked controversy and raised concerns about the safety of aid distribution in Gaza.

A UN expert, Francesca Albanese, has called on multinational companies to stop doing business with Israel, warning they risk being complicit in war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The companies named in her report include Lockheed Martin, Alphabet, IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Caterpillar, Hyundai, and Volvo, as well as financial institutions BNP Paribas and Barclays. Ms Albanese accused Israel of "committing one of the cruellest genocides in modern history" and claimed the companies were profiting from the conflict. Israel has rejected the report as "groundless" and the US has accused Ms Albanese of "political and economic warfare" against the US economy. The report has no legal power, but aims to raise awareness and potentially influence companies and governments to disinvest from Israel.

A UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, accused Israel of "genocide" in Gaza, prompting criticism from the US, which called for her removal, citing "antisemitism and anti-Israel bias." Albanese's report, "From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide," described Israel as "a regime of settler-colonial apartheid" and claimed corporations aided Israel's "genocidal campaign." The Palestinian envoy to the UN praised Albanese's report, while UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer criticized it, saying "war is not genocide." Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva condemned Albanese's report as "inflammatory rhetoric" and "legally baseless." The US Mission to the UN reiterated its opposition to Albanese's reappointment, citing her "virulent antisemitism and unrelenting anti-Israel bias."